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Southwest Virginia Graduate Medical Education Consortium

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    • From the Front Lines of the Appalachian Addiction Crisis
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Category: Local Voices

Local Voices

Call for Submissions

May 20, 2022 admin

The Local Voices blog is a new initiative that encourages self-awareness and self-efficacy. It provides personal perspectives from our medical community that reflect life, beauty, and lessons learned in SWVA and rural localities. We are actively seeking residents, physicians, medical students, or anyone in the healthcare community to share their stories and experiences from living… Continue reading Call for Submissions

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Local Voices

The Drive to Succeed

May 13, 2022May 12, 2022 admin

Before I joined the Lonesome Pine Family Medicine Residency Program in Norton, I took a long career break. I thought my biggest challenge would be getting back into medicine with younger, “fresh out of med school" residents. It turns out, that was not it at all. I live in Kingsport, TN. Most of my rotations… Continue reading The Drive to Succeed

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Local Voices

Changing the World

May 6, 2022May 5, 2022 admin

"...when the visit is over, I have solved one real problem.  Just one, maybe a relatively small one.  But that grateful patient, on that day, leaves armed with concrete information that will improve their health.  I didn’t rewrite history, but I put a ripple in the water. " I had the audacity in my youth, to… Continue reading Changing the World

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Local Voices

Field of Dreams: Rural Medicine

April 29, 2022April 26, 2022 admin

With myths of outdated equipment, poor quality of training, and little variety in clinical cases, Rural Medicine often comes in last place on the list of dream jobs.  Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth.  As a former Internal Medicine resident in small town, rural America, I found that Rural Medicine provided an… Continue reading Field of Dreams: Rural Medicine

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Local Voices

Symbiosis

April 22, 2022April 21, 2022 admin

The Graduate Medical Education Consortium board met recently for a strategic retreat. Since we had new members, the dreaded icebreaker appeared, that activity collegial strangers detest in professional gatherings. It was a simple icebreaker: answer the question HOW DID YOU GET HERE?  As the nine board members described their routes into medicine and academia, a… Continue reading Symbiosis

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Local Voices

Why I Chose to be a Physician Assistant

April 15, 2022April 11, 2022 admin

From a young age, I always found science fascinating, and as I progressed through high school and college, I also found that I had a strong desire to help people in my rural community, so the decision to choose a career in healthcare seemed natural. When choosing what role I wanted to have in the… Continue reading Why I Chose to be a Physician Assistant

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Local Voices, rural health issues

Congress Needs YOU!

April 8, 2022April 9, 2022 admin

The National Rural Health Association hosts an Annual Policy Institute, in which people with a passion for improving health in rural communities visit Washington, DC to encourage Members of Congress to support that passion. While I have experienced this event sixteen times, I will never forget my very first Policy Institute. Unsure of myself, terrified… Continue reading Congress Needs YOU!

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Local Voices

Those “screw-ups” are now respected physicians

April 1, 2022March 31, 2022 admin

One of the best things about being part of the faculty at a small school is getting to know your students, and being in a position to intervene at critical points in their lives.  We all see students who never put a foot wrong, who are organized and hard-working and smart, the students who earn… Continue reading Those “screw-ups” are now respected physicians

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Local Voices, rural residencies, Southwest Virginia

The Warmth of Rural Residency

March 25, 2022March 25, 2022 admin

"The true beauty of Norton, and the larger area of Southwest Virginia, lies within the people who constitute it." You do not have to look far to appreciate the beauty of Norton, Virginia. At every turn, you are greeted by mesmerizing mountains that span as far as the horizon, rugged trails that are sure to… Continue reading The Warmth of Rural Residency

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Local Voices

Only Trying to Help

March 18, 2022 admin

When I was presented with the opportunity to write this post, I spent some time looking into topics that would fit well with this blog. During my search, I came across the question, “Do people who are ‘only trying to help’ sometimes make things worse?” I found this question especially relevant to the work that… Continue reading Only Trying to Help

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Contact Info

Wendy Welch
276-639-7911
director@swvagmec.com
  • Who We Are
  • ‘Head for the Hills’
  • Resources
    • General
    • Housing
    • Residents
    • Faculty
    • Pre-Med/Med Students
  • Local Voices
  • SWVA Residencies
  • Consortium Books
    • From the Front Lines of the Appalachian Addiction Crisis
    • Fall or Fly The Strangely Hopeful Story of Foster Care and Adoption in Appalachia
    • Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories
    • Masks, Misinformation, and Making Do (Pre-Order)
  • Inman Village Community Nourishment Project
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